This invention relates in general to dairy cattle housing, and is more particularly directed to a gate arrangement for controlling the intersection of a feed drive-through with a cow lane in a freestall barn. The invention is more particularly concerned with an improved gate arrangement that facilitates driving the feed delivery vehicle along the feed drive-through or feed driveway, and which allows the cow lane or lanes to be closed off when need be so that the cows (do not wander onto the drive-through.
Freestall dairy barns, also known as loose housing, have become an attractive option for dairy farmers who want to maintain and manage a large dairy herd. The advantages of the freestall housing system over other confined herd arrangements, such as tie stall barns, are well known. These include reduction of bedding per cow, less space per cow, ease of manure removal, reduced udder washing time before milking, higher milk quality, and less frequent udder injury. A fleestall barn requires a building design that is similar to conventional loose housing, but with stalls and lanes constructed to define resting areas, watering areas, feed areas, and cow lanes for the cows to walk to and from a milking center. In the resting areas, freestalls arc arranged in parallel rows with adjacent concrete alleys that provide safe, convenient passages for the cows to other parts of the freestall barn and other parts of the housing system. The alleys have gutters or other means for collection of manure, which is flushed into a manure handling tank. Each resting area also has a feed alley where the cows feed themselves. These are normally located adjacent and parallel to a feed drive-through or feed driveway. There is a barrier between the feed alley and the drive-through, which can include a row of feed stanchions. A feed table of about 2 to 3 feet in width lies along the barrier on the drive-through side, and the cows can place their necks and heads over the barrier to eat the feed that is distributed on the feed table. Normally, a feed vehicle is driven along the drive-through once or several times a day to bring in the feed, and the feed is spread out on the feed tables that lie along both sides of the feed drive-through.
The milking of the cows is carried out at a milking parlor located outside the barn. A single milking parlor can service several freestall barns. Cow lanes connect the various resting areas in the barn with the milking parlor. Because cow resting areas are located on both sides of the feed drive-through, the cow lanes have to cross the feed drive-through. Also, to keep the travel distance to a minimum and to permit groups of cows to be moved easily between the barn and the milking parlor, the cow lanes leading to the parlor are best located at the center of the barn, crossing the feed drive-through at the center.
Gates and fences are needed to funnel and direct the cows, and at the intersection of the cow lane(s) with the drive-through, a gate is necessary to prevent the cows from walking onto the drive-through. On the other hand, the gates must be opened to permit the feed delivery vehicle to pass along the drive-through. To date, there has been no gate arrangement proposed that would facilitate opening of the gate at the crossing of the cow lane, but which can reliably keep the cows from wandering onto the feed drive-through. There has been no gate arrangement that is automated or mechanized so that the gates can be opened and closed by the driver of the feed delivery vehicle.
Several freestall arrangements for housing cows are described in the literature. For example, dividers for freestall barns are described in Abel U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,104, a portable free stall module is described in Kilbum U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,972, and a related stall construction for a free stall barn is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,322. As a matter of background, general guidelines for constructing and employing freestall barns for a dairy herd are found in Robert E. Graves. Guideline for Planning Dairy Freestall Barns, Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service Cooperative Extension, Ithaca N.Y., 1995. Other useful background information can be found in Moeller et al., Free-Stall Loose Housing for Dairy Cattle, ID-63, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service; Ilam.nond, Dairy Free Stall Design, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Services Cooperative Extension Service; and Chastain et al., Dairy Lighting System for Free Stall Barns and Milking Centers, Pub. AEU-12, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, August 1966.